Love After Love...

Chapter 23: "I wanna marry her."

Author's POV:
Namjoon took a deep breath. He started. "I met Alicia in school. She was a junior. But we never really spoke in school. After quite some years, I met her through some mutual friends. We started talking, really hit it off. She told me she used to have a crush on me in school. It was a cliche love story. We fell in love, or at least I did, madly, and around a year into the relationship, she started hanging out with Seokjin. A lot. I never suspected anything, and Seokjin used to tell me that she wanted to hang out with him because he's my family and she wanted to get closer to him. I felt so nice to know that she was taking the relationship seriously and really wanted to make an effort. I saw a future with her. One day, she insisted that she accompany me to my studio. I was so damn happy. After working for a while, and Alicia, Seokjin and I having a great time, I took a break, and said that I wanted to take a stroll. She said she'd wait with Seokjin. After I came back, I saw Alicia on top of Seokjin. They were very clearly 'getting to know each other'. Alicia saw me and didn't even come after me. Seokjin did. He chased me a lot. I locked myself in my room and wouldn't come out. I was so so so hurt. And angry. How could my own brother do that to me? We were so close. We used to tell each other everything. And then he went on to screw my girlfriend. I was so in love with Alicia, she was my everything. I was a different person because of her, not necessarily in a good way, but I didn't have the conscience to know that then. Back then, she was the reason I woke up in the morning. But more than what Alicia did, it was Seokjin that hurt me most. Mom and dad really tried to make us reconcile, but I could never bring myself to do it. After a while, we all just grew accustomed to the fact that my brother and I dont talk unless it's about work. And since then, love was my enemy. I had promised myself to never love so ferociously. But then... Well, I met you..."

After Namjoon was done, Jieun offered him a glass of water because she saw evidently that the liquid he was consuming since the past few days was definitely not water. He drank the water and pleaded her to say something. She said, "Have you tried talking to Seokjin about this?" "Why waste my time on something that would definitely hurt me?" he said. "You know what we spoke about that day, Namjoon?" she said, "We spoke only and only about you. What you are to us. He speaks so fondly of you, Namjoon. With so much love," she continued. He only scoffed. "No, I'm serious," she said, noticing his disbelief. "And I know that, deep down, you would like a reconciliation. And even if he does admit it, and it does hurt you, won't it be better to know the whole story and get the closure?" she said. Namjoon looked at her for a while and sighed.

"I'm not forcing you. You can do whatever you want, it's you who is in this situation, afterall. I'm just telling you what I heard from Seokjin and the way he spoke about you. He's hurting too, Namjoon." "Will that make you forgive me?" he asked, tears and hope in his eyes. It was as if he would break if she said no. "Don't do this for me. Do this for your peace of mind. And I forgive you, but just give me time to get back to the way things were. I see the guilt and hurt in your eyes, I believe you. But just, take a step to make things better for yourself. Not for me, or us. We grow together, remember? We do things that make us happy. Don't hold yourself back from being happy. Don't underestimate the power of closure," she said with a small smile.

Namjoon hugged her very tight and cried on her shoulder. She calmed him down and this was all he wished for. "Stay here tonight," he pleaded. "Sure," she said with a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll sleep on the couch," he said. "That won't be necessary," she said. His heart felt like it could beat again.

That night, as he watched her sleep, he thanked the stars for her. He walked to the balcony and decided to talk to Seokjin and called him immediately. He picked up in one ring.

Seokjin: "Namjoon, thank God you called! I swear it's not what it looks like, I was there by coincidence and-"
Namjoon: "Stop. I wanna meet you. Tomorrow. Lunch at the cafe near your house."
Seokjin: "Yes, for sure. I'll cancel my schedule for tomorrow. Thanks, Namjoon."
Namjoon: "See you."

And he hung up. He slept hoping for a better tomorrow.

~The next day, at lunch~

Namjoon's POV:
I waited for him and he showed up before time. 'Good start,' I thought. "Thanks for meeting with me," he said. "I'm going to ask you one time, Seokjin. I would really appreciate the truth. I'm not in a state of mind where I can take lies, so please... just dont lie," I said. He nodded. I noticed his nose was red and eyes were swollen. He was crying.

"Alicia contacted me when you guys were together, saying she wanted to meet me. When I told you she wants to be closer to me because I'm your family, that was the truth. That's exactly what she told me. I was happy she was taking you seriously. She was so well spoken and I really thought she cared about you. Until one day she started flirting. I got really uncomfortable, but chose to not tell you, thinking perhaps she's just friendly. That was a mistake. I started avoiding her and ignoring her texts and calls. But then one day she came to the studio. You left to take a walk, and the next thing I know, she's back to flirting and saying things like, 'If I knew Namjoon had a hot brother, I would never waste my time on him. Dont worry, no one needs to know about this.' She was climbing on top of me and I was really trying very hard to resist her without having to use force. But that's when you came in. Even when I came after you, she did nothing. I still got calls from her and texts saying that now that she wasn't your girlfriend anymore, we both could be together. I didn't understand what was wrong with her so I blocked her. I should have done that long ago, I should've told you about her, warned you," Seokjin explained the whole story. By the end, both of us were in tears.

We left for Seokjin's apartment and had a talk like the old days. We reminisced and laughed together. "Why did you want to talk to Jieun?" I asked. "I just wanted to make sure she wasn't like Alicia. I would not make the same mistake of not warning you this time. But I never crossed any limits, I swear. I always spoke politely, you have to believe me," Seokjin said. "That's not your job, Seokjin. I can look after myself, I don't need you for that. I just want your support and for you to be my best friend with whom I can talk and share things... Things like... I wanna marry her..." I said. His eyes widened. But he soon broke into a wide smile and said that it was the most amazing decision. 'She would be perfect for me,' he said. I was happy he felt so. I pulled out the ring from my jacket pocket. "I've been carrying this ring around since more than a month. I'm risking Jieun getting to know about it, and now's not the right time. Would you mind if I kept it here? The minute things are okay, I'll come and pick it up and I'll ask her the same day," I said. He happily agreed. We hugged each other and it felt like I got my best friend back. I was happy. Thank God, I listened to her.

She was waiting for me when I reached home. I told her what we spoke about. She was happy I chose to talk to him and we had a nice talk before sleeping. We slept on the same bed, closer than the night before, and I smiled, knowing things would be back to normal soon. After all, we're us, we're perfect, and we get through things together... She's my future, the woman I want to wake up next to for my whole life. She's the love of my life and I'm going to marry her someday.